Wise words

Years ago, back when I could actually hold the various SONS of Thunder in my lap, we would get up early to see what was going on in the world.
There was always something new, often times involving finding or saving someone. Rollie Ollie found Tinky Winky; and Mr. Tom Ham Hat got back his magic dust and helped Lady escape evil Diesel with the aid of Thomas the Choo-Choo, which meant all was now right on the Island of Sodor.
And after running all over the place and basically wearing himself out, Tigger finally found Eeyore’s tail. We were always a little antsy during those searches.
And some of our favorite times were just listening to the Big Bear in the Blue House talk with his best friend, the Moon. We learned a lot from all those flying dragons and talking bears and trains and robots and chipmunks and other assorted creatures.

We learned the basic rules of life: be polite; say thank you; wait your turn; help each other; tell the truth; share; don’t get in cars with strangers; don’t run with scissors or other sharp objects; learn when to use an indoor voice; and if you have an accident in your pants, it’s okay, just go find an adult.
But the SONS had the audacity to grow up on me. Now, they can only sit in my lap for about a minute before I lose all feeling in my legs. And instead of checking out what Thomas the Choo-Choo is up to, they seem to prefer saving the world from zombies.
It’s been years since I’ve sat in on a conversation with Blue Bear and the Moon. I hope Lady hasn’t gotten caught by evil Diesel, but I don’t know.
Those early morning life lessons have been replaced by family movie nights. Everything seems to move faster; there’s more flash and “oomph” and bells and whistles. Rarely do you see a Blue Bear.

But every now and then, one of the non-human characters says something that makes me stop. They are what I call “Wise Words.”

And it drives the SONS nuts.

Because I’ll hear something and jump up and grab a pencil and my ever present notebook and make them rewind and rewind so I can write the phrase down. And the Little Black Dress will join in with what we call the “life application.” And The Dress and I are trying to impart some bit of life wisdom through some Transformer or robot or mouse and ...

The SONS are like, “yeah, can we turn the movie back on now?”

I still write them down - and I post a lot of them on my blog. The Dress puts her favorites around the house. Some things need to be remembered. Below are a few of them, which just goes to show humans aren’t always the smartest ones around.

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“One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it.”

Kung Fu Panda

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“A strong man stands up for himself. A stronger man stands up for others.”

Back to the Barnyard

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“Fate rarely calls us at a moment of our own choosing.”

Transformers 2

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“No man can walk out of his own story.”

Rango

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“A hero never appears until the world really needs him.”

The Tale of Despereaux

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“You don’t throw a whole life away just because it’s banged up a little.”

Seabiscuit

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“If you focus on what you left behind, you will never be able to see what lies ahead. Now go up and look around.”

Ratatouille

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“It’s not whether they think we won, it’s whether we think we won â ¦ You run your race.”

Secretariat

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“We do not wash our pits in the Pool of Sacred Tears.”

Kung Fu Panda

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“If I could go back and do it over again, I would follow my dream. You have greatness in you, Rodney, never doubt it. Never, never, give up.”

Robots

On that last one, Eldest SON suggested taking out the name Rodney and putting in something else.